The Color Blue
by CronoCat
Summary: A little birthday tribute to Nakago...I wanted to call it the Color of Being Different, but I don't think that really makes sense...please r/r!


Disclaimer: I do not own FY, it belongs to the amazing Yu Watase.

The Color Blue

It was raining, the water rushing in torrents from the roof of the palace. Although the day was young and wet and the sky was dark, one man already roamed restlessly through the palace, his blue cloak swishing behind him. As soon as the rain cleared, he would ride to the city. The rain had been pouring down for two days now and he couldn't stand to be in the palace much longer.

Finally, the sun broke through the clouds and the man in blue rushed out into the streets. As he rode along on his horse, he saw a girl being attacked by a group of men. But more importantly, he heard a whisper that she was from another world. Could she be the Priestess of Seiryuu? Ever since he was small he had planned to ask Seiryuu No Miko to make him a powerful deity. Perhaps it was a childish wish, but it had been on his mind ever since his mother had died. The first time the Emperor had used him...afterwards, he had desperately wished he was an almighty god and able to get revenge. He would get the power he needed to exterminate all those who had had it coming for so long now. He would be merciless, as they had been to him...

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**FLASHBACK**

The day had dawned bright and clear and by now, the first chill was out of the morning air. The marketplace was as crowded as always-the streets packed with women and their children wandering from stall to stall. At every corner and often in-between the stalls, soldiers stood in groups of two, looking bored and important. Their armor shone in the slanting rays of sunlight that penetrated the early mists.

The vendors yelled out, their voices mingling as they all tried to out-shout each other. The things they sold were placed about in no particular order and the people were likely to find a booth selling blankets next to a booth selling antique jewelry. But most people sold food.

Cloaked in dark brown to keep the cold wind out, a small boy walked beside his mother, holding her hand tightly. She too, was wearing a cloak and held the hood tight over her head with her free hand. Urging her son along quickly, they two made a few short stops, but only to buy things that were absolutely necessary. They didn't have much money, but it was enough to get by.

Nearly no one else in the marketplace wore cloaks. They were privileged not to have to hide their faces. The small boy admired the other children's shining dark hair and skin that was tanned brown from playing in the sun all day. His mother pulled him along and gave him a small basket to carry. He liked that...it made him feel important to be allowed to carry something for his mother. He liked that she trusted him not to spill it and lose some of their food. It would be all they would have for that week and he was entrusted to carrying a few, light things.

He hoped that when they got home today, his mother would remember it was his birthday. She hadn't mentioned it yet, but he was holding out hope for a surprise present. He was pretty sure he had seen her slip a package under her cloak earlier when she thought he wasn't looking. Maybe this year, they could make a big cake and eat it all for dinner. He was ten-years-old today; it was an exciting age, because soon he would be a man and could help his mother earn some money. He would like to put her in a nice house somewhere far away from here, where she would never have anything to worry about.

The soldiers were whispering again. It always happened whenever they walked by. His mother always held her head higher and told him to ignore them. Don't let the other children tease you. Don't let the other parents pick on you and don't make the soldiers mad_, she would say if he was sent alone on an errand. _I won't_, he always promised, so now he tried. He hurried past them with his mother._

Mother? _He ventured after a moment, turning to look behind him. She smiled down at him so he went on. _Why do they hate us so much?

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She pulled him along, thinking what to say to her son's questions. He stared at the soldiers as they walked away. If he were allowed to, he would have wanted to be a soldier. He would have admired them, like the other children. They always looked so strong and brave, standing there. He could have really looked up to those soldiers...if only they didn't hate him and his mother so much.

As he stared sadly, part of his hood slipped down, exposing his longish blond hair and his brilliant blue eyes, shining with innocence.

**End of Flashback**

He went back to the marketplace, to the streets he hadn't set foot on in years. He hadn't wanted to come back as it had come to represent the long years of pain that he hid behind his unfeeling exterior. He would put that all to rest soon. Nothing had changed since that day of his tenth birthday. Today was his birthday again, but he no longer cared. The shops were as varied as ever and the streets were still just as crowded. The vendors were different by now, but their voices rang out and combined into one huge voice and floated above the clamor of the people just as they always had. And people still turned to look at him-not because he was General Nakago, but because he had blond hair and blue eyes. He saw how the soldiers treated him with mock respect, bowing and smirking. Oh, revenge would be sweet! When he was a god, these people would rue the day they had even looked twice at him and whispered something to their companions. He would spare no one.

The fire of revenge had been rekindled. It would stay lit and dangerous until these people all cried out for mercy. Or until he himself died. He knew the need for revenge was consuming his soul, overpowering him. Once upon a time, he would have shrank back from it, frightened. But he was far beyond fear now and he opened his arms wide to it and vowed to hurt them all. It was-had he stopped to think about it-a very different sort of birthday present he had just given himself.

Nakago returned to the Emperor's palace and to Yui. It was almost funny the way he needed this weak, pathetic excuse for a girl. But he had waited a long time, too long to not see that she could help him. With his strength of will, she would bend easily and bring him the power he needed to become a god. She would raise him above humanity and he would lord vengefully over them all. It was fortunate, Nakago thought as he watched Yui lying there, that after she gained the power of Seiryuu she would be consumed. It made it so much easier for him, although he would be somewhat sorry to see her go. He already knew that Yui would never be strong enough to resist being consumed. He felt no pity for those who weren't strong enough. Mostly he just felt a sense of relief that things were finally working out.

And so he fed her lies until Yui hated her friend, until she too was consumed by revenge. He comforted her when she cried with whispers of vengeance. And through it all he saw a new world where no one could touch him to hurt him, where he would be safe at last and his soul could fly free again.

He would be God and the earth would cry out the way he had once, and everyone would finally see what they had done to him, who they had made him become. They would realize what their words could do to a man, how their actions could drive him to the point of revenge and they might finally understand what it meant to be taken advantage of just for being different. And all this because he had blue eyes, blue...

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAKAGO!!! ...well, maybe not so happy...-_-' Anyway, what did you guys think? Good? Bad? The worst thing you've ever read? Send me reviews and let me know!! Thanx so much for taking the time to read my little tribute to Nakago's birthday. ~CronoCat =^_^=


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